


that's it

by iron_spider



Series: I love you more than anything (bio dad au) [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bio dad au, Gen, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28530126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iron_spider/pseuds/iron_spider
Summary: “Tony Stark,” Richard says. “And—the baby.Thebaby. Goddamn, this isn’t—at all what I was expecting from my trip to the store.”“Alright,” Ben says, stepping a little closer to Tony.“Well, we weren’t expecting it either,” Tony says, finally at a loss for what to say. “Uh. Never exactly thought I’d be—formally meeting you.”“I’m sorry,” Richard says. He stares at Peter, and it makes Tony feel weird. It makes him feel really weird. He tries to recall the things May said about him the one time they talked about him, and the details don’t come, but it wasn’t anything good. Knew Mary was better than him. Couldn’t deal with it. That was their downfall. “Jesus, he looks like her. He’s one?”“That’s what the hat says,” Tony says, anxiously, looking around like someone is gonna run out and jump them.
Relationships: Ben Parker & May Parker (Spider-Man), Ben Parker & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: I love you more than anything (bio dad au) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671484
Comments: 49
Kudos: 571





	that's it

When it hits midnight on August 10th, 2002, Tony wakes up immediately. As if there’s something inside him that knows it’s Peter’s birthday, knows that his kid is officially one year old. Well, not completely officially—Peter was born at like three in the morning or something terrible, but Tony wakes up then, too. And about a hundred other times, for some reason. He’s had Peter sleeping in his own room for about three months now, which was fucking sad and awful in the beginning for both of them, but last night he broke out the old bassinet and situated the kid next to his bed again, because Tony is a sap and he knows it and he wanted to be the first thing Peter saw on his first birthday when he woke up. The bassinet is way too small for him now, and he’s practically shoved in there, but he seems content enough.

So Tony waits, like a lunatic, for his baby to wake up. He puts the TV on mute and drifts in and out of sleep, and he’s hoping for one of those sleepy snuggly wakeups where Peter reaches for him and falls asleep on his chest.

Instead. 

Peter’s wail sends a jolt of fear through him, and then Tony is completely awake.

“Dada! No, no, dada! Dada!”

He never wakes up screaming and crying, and Tony nearly careens off the bed trying to get to him.

But Peter’s not sitting up, he’s not _awake_ —he’s dreaming. A nightmare.

Tony puts a firm hand on Peter’s chest. “Hey, baby. Hey, hey. I’m here, wake up. Wake up.” He quickly picks him up before he gets a response, supporting the back of his head. 

Peter lets out another little cry but then his eyes snap open, and he takes in his surroundings. He’s still shaking and he meets Tony’s eyes, and dissolves into gasping, quiet tears. Which is almost worse than the yelling. 

“Nope, nope, c’mere monkey, it’s okay,” Tony whispers, tucking him up against him. “I told you no nightmares. I told you. That’s not allowed. Nope.” Tony cradles his head and ruffles his hair, rubbing his back. “You’re okay, baby. You’re okay, birthday boy.”

Peter pushes back so he can see him, and Tony wipes the tears from his cheeks. “Dada,” Peter says, so sweet and sad, and Tony leans in, kissing his face.

“I’m here, buddy, it’s okay. You’re safe. No more baddies, you’ve got me, I’ll protect you.”

Peter sniffles, more tears falling, and Tony keeps trying to swipe them away when they fall. “Dada, cheese,” Peter says, holding onto Tony’s shirt collar. “Cheese.” He babbles a bunch of other unintelligible words, but his eyes are big and pleading.

Tony laughs. “You want cheese?”

“Cheese.”

“But then back to bed, because it’s still way too early, even for me.”

Peter pats his cheek and leans close, resting his forehead against Tony’s chin. “Cheese, dada.”

Tony gathers him up and drags himself over to the side of the bed, blinking at the clock that reads 4:13 AM. “Ask and you shall receive,” Tony says, patting Peter’s leg as he carries him to the kitchen.

~ 

He gets his snuggly sleep after a snack of cubed cheddar, and Tony lays there trying to keep himself mostly awake, still instilled with May’s paranoia. He remembers how the first few weeks he barely slept at all, because he just watched Peter at night. Watched his chest rise and fall, kept his hand resting there, a tangible reminder that he was still alive.

His kid is a year old. 

Tony has a vision. A little wild-haired first grader, wearing a backpack bigger than him, hauling down the hallway. A middle schooler, wearing glasses, sitting with a chess team. A high schooler, walking across the stage at his graduation, grinning out at his family. 

His Peter. 

“Oh my God, brain,” he says, holding Peter tighter. “No no, no no, no no. Not that. We’re not thinking about that.”

His brain presents something worse— _you won’t live that long, anyway._ A throwback from over a year ago, when he lived fast and hard and hated himself and made sure his body knew it. His mind always knew, and he’d planned out his funeral more than one time, always altering little things but keeping the event at the forefront of his mind, knowing someone else would have to put it into action soon. 

Not allowed, now. Not anymore. 

_I’ll live to see every milestone of his life_ , Tony thinks.

Peter has a hold of Tony’s shirt in his little fist, and he squeezes it, on and off, on and off. Tony hopes his dreams are better now, better for his special day. 

_He trusts you to stay with him. He lost his other parent already. Don’t break his trust._

The voice in his head isn’t really his own anymore. It’s a strange combination of his mother, Pepper, May, and Mary now. He feels like they’re trying to guide him, and for once, he doesn’t fight against someone else’s advice.

Rhodey would be proud of the amount of female influence Tony has now.

He kisses the top of Peter’s head, and once again, marvels at how he’s the best baby in the entire world, and even his sleeping should be world-renowned for being the sweetest thing he’s ever seen.

“A sap,” Tony whispers. “I’m just. A sap.”

~

Tony knows most one year old birthday parties are a reason for adults to hang out with each other, because Peter has yet to go out and make a bunch of baby friends. So, Tony just decides to decorate the penthouse to Peter’s specifications, aka lots of animals and monster trucks, but he doesn’t plan on forcing anybody into weird kid games. He’s not that much of a freak. They’ll just have apple cider, watch Peter play in the ball pit Tony made, open presents, and then they’ll do the cakes and that’s it.

Cakes, plural, because Tony found out about a smash cake and he knew it was something he had to get. 

“So, lemme get this straight,” Ben says, holding Peter and following Tony into the grocery store. “The cake is specifically for him to destroy?”

“The smaller cake,” Tony says. It’s not his favorite, to go looking for his own groceries. Usually he has them delivered, or has someone else go pick them up for him. But he wanted to make sure the cakes looked right, because when that teenager from his vision looks back at the pictures, Tony doesn’t wanna look like an asshole. “The bigger cake is for eating. The smaller cake is for him to punch his hands through and destroy.”

“As one does,” Ben says. 

“Let’s get in and out,” Tony says, grabbing the cart that has the race car attachment on it. Peter starts shrieking, excited, as soon as he sees it, and Ben grins, putting him in the top next to his own little steering wheel. They both buckle him in, and Tony adjusts the pointy birthday hat on his head. 

He hopes there’s no press in here, randomly, but Peter will be in his birthday best if there is. They already know his fucking birthday, anyway. 

“Wanna split up, or are we just getting the cakes?” Ben asks, as they start inside.

“Just the cakes,” Tony says, glancing around for the bakery. “Your wife got so much food that we’ll be eating it for weeks, so we’re good on that front.”

“You give May unlimited funds, she will make amazing things happen,” Ben says. “She does it on a budget, so I can just imagine what dinner’s gonna look like through your credit card.”

Tony narrows his eyes, looking over at him as they walk. “You know I got you guys, right? Like—money wise. And, you know, otherwise, but if you’re having problems—or if you ever have problems—”

“Don’t worry about it, Tony,” Ben says, patting him on the shoulder. “We know how to take care of each other.”

Tony isn’t sure what the hell that means, or what Ben thinks he’s gonna do if they get into some genuine problems, like losing their apartment or some shit. Does he think Tony is just gonna stand by and do nothing? Is he too much of a man to ask for help?

Peter buzzes at him, patting his hand to get his attention. Then he grabs the steering wheel and rocks it back and forth.

“Look at this,” Tony says. “Look at this wild driver.”

Ben snorts. “Gonna be the scourge of the road when the time comes.”

“Oh God,” Tony says, finally catching sight of the bakery in the back and making a beeline for it. “I’ve been thinking too much about the future lately.”

“That’s the curse of hitting the first big age milestone,” Ben says, hands in his pockets. “You can see time moving.”

“God, no,” Tony says, shaking his head. 

They get over to the cake counter without Tony having a meltdown, and thankfully, the cakes are ready like they were supposed to be. May insisted that he order them from the store and not a specialty place, because she said the store cakes always taste better. He can’t really speak to that, but he really likes how they came out.

“Look at that,” Tony says, holding the smash cake up to Ben. “Got our little car on there, got our sharks and dolphins—”

Ben laughs, grinning. “Look at that,” he echoes. “More toys to add to the collection. You really want him to destroy this? It looks so nice.”

“Well we can’t keep it forever, so I figured he could have some fun and we’ll have the square cake to cut and eat like normal people. While the cave baby gets all frosting and dirty.”

“Fun first,” Ben says, reaching over and squeezing Peter’s hand.

With that motion Peter notices the cakes, and his eyes go comically wide, his mouth forming a little ‘o’. Both Tony and Ben double over in hysterics, and Peter starts shrieking in excitement, slamming his hands on the plastic steering wheel.

“Not yet, monkey,” Tony says, putting the smash cake in the cart, Ben pushing the other one over to make room. “Tonight, your destruction begins.”

“Ben?” a voice says, cutting into their moment. “Ben Parker, is that you?”

Tony and Ben both turn around, and Ben’s face goes pure white when he sees the man standing there. Tony looks back and forth between them, and realizes that the man is looking at him and weirdly, worse yet, looking at _Peter._

Peter isn’t screaming anymore, but he’s making the buzzing noises again, like he’s actually in a race car.

“Richard,” Ben says, and _oh_. Oh.

“Tony Stark,” Richard says. “And—the baby. _The_ baby. Goddamn, this isn’t—at all what I was expecting from my trip to the store.”

“Alright,” Ben says, stepping a little closer to Tony. 

“Well, we weren’t expecting it either,” Tony says, finally at a loss for what to say. “Uh. Never exactly thought I’d be—formally meeting you.”

“I’m sorry,” Richard says. He stares at Peter, and it makes Tony feel weird. It makes him feel really weird. He tries to recall the things May said about him the one time they talked about him, and the details don’t come, but it wasn’t anything good. Knew Mary was better than him. Couldn’t deal with it. That was their downfall. “Jesus, he looks like her. He’s one?”

“That’s what the hat says,” Tony says, anxiously, looking around like someone is gonna run out and jump them.

“We’re in a bit of a rush, Richard,” Ben says. “But you’re looking good—maybe I can give you a call—”

“Not really like you,” Richard says, still staring at Peter. “To try and run somebody off. Or maybe you’ve changed since I last saw you. It’s been a bit.”

“Yeah, it has,” Ben says. “Tony, you want to go check out? I’ll be right behind—”

“Shit, man, wasn’t this me and you?” Richard says. “Sent to the store for the girls. Now it’s you and him, and she’s gone.”

“Richard,” Ben says. 

“Alright,” Tony says, starting to wheel the cart around him. “I’m—”

“That could have been my baby,” Richard says.

It feels like a smack. Not a particularly effective one, but a smack all the same. But Ben steps even closer then, and Tony takes off towards the registers. 

“Doesn’t line up with what Mary told us, Dick,” Tony hears Ben say. “Seems like you blew up your chance to ever have anything left of her.”

~

He catches up to Tony in the parking lot, where Happy wheels around to get them. They load up the cakes and strap Peter in, and Ben gets in the front with Happy. Tony scoots all the way over so he’s sitting right next to the carseat, and Peter reaches out, immediately grabbing his hand. 

“He seemed like he’d been doing a little bit of drinking,” Ben says, twisting around to look at them.

“What happened?” Happy asks, waiting to start driving. 

“Ran into Mary’s ex,” Tony says, holding Peter’s little hand with both of his own. “Acted like he wanted to take me on Maury.”

“Oh Jesus,” Happy says. He starts driving then, heading out the way they came in.

“No,” Ben says. “We know what’s what. We’ve got the doctor’s notes, we’ve seen the paternity tests. He’s got no ground to stand on there, none at all. And Mary was fully honest about how long it’d been since the last time with him. Forever, she’d been—done with him for a good while. He just wasn’t acting normal. Probably still hates himself.”

Tony cracks his jaw, listening to Peter babbling to himself in half-formed English. Like he’s telling himself a story. 

“Said Peter could have been his kid,” Tony says.

“Oh, Boss, don’t listen to that guy,” Happy says. “Doesn’t even seem like he knows how these things work.”

“Not even that,” Tony says. “Just—I don’t know. Thinking. If he’d treated her better, if they’d stayed together, he might have my kid.”

“First of all, he didn’t,” Ben says, and the way he’s twisted looks awkward and uncomfortable, but he stays that way anyway. “And second of all, it wouldn’t have been Peter. Peter is you and Mary. And he was meant to be here. That was fate, Tony. He’s here, he’s supposed to be, he’s yours. That’s it. That’s all.”

“Dada,” Peter says, dragging Tony’s hand over into the car seat. “Dada.”

“See,” Ben says, smiling at him. “The two of you are a team. That’s your baby. He missed out and you came out on top. That’s it.”

There’s something about the way he says “that’s it” that makes Tony nod to himself. Maybe that is it. No, it is. Fuck that guy, fuck Richard. He was with Mary for years and she kicked his ass to the curb because he was threatened by the fact that she was more intelligent than him. That’s it.

“That’s it, huh?” Tony says, leaning into Peter, tipping his hat lower on his forehead. “That’s it.”

~

Ben tells May when they get back to the penthouse, and Tony watches her face change while the two of them stand in the corner and hash it out. Tony laughs to himself, because Ben is so good at keeping his emotions in check, but May is a simmering volcano, always a few misplaced words away from blowing up. Ben stands directly in front of her, but Tony can still see her exaggerated hand motions, her harsh whispers.

He’s glad they’re on his side.

Tony had invited Obie to the party, but he doesn’t show up. All the rest of them are there though, and Tony gets the distinct pleasure of seeing Peter’s reaction to all the wrapped presents. He’s had one experience with presents, on the Christmas after he was born, but he was smaller then and Tony wasn’t there. They all stand around like paparazzi, laughing and grinning from ear to ear about all the little shrieks, excited jumps, slowly realizing that all this is for him.

“Dada!” Peter says, glancing over at him. “Dada?”

“Yup,” Tony says. “Yours. Your stuff.”

Peter looks at the pile again and _screams._

“Yup, that’s Tony,” Rhodey says, wincing. “Tony all the way.”

Tony snorts, chest going warm.

They help him unwrap everything, and it takes an hour or so because he wants to take each toy out of the box it’s in and play with it right then. They eat through the process, passing spinach dip back and forth between them. Then they start exchanging boxes of batteries, plastic baby phones, a cheeseburger, a spaceship. Tony keeps making sure that Rhodey is video-taping everything, and then he catches him giving him this look. He knows what’s behind it, some strange admiration, and probably a deep gladness that Tony wound up here and not in a ditch somewhere.

Tony’s glad too.

They take the cake out when the presents are done, situating Peter in his high chair. May quickly pulls his little birthday shirt off, and ties a bib around him before he can get going, but he catches sight of the cake in Ben’s hands and starts screaming.

“Is this your least favorite bib?” May asks, looking at Tony.

“It’s not like we’re gonna have to burn it after,” Tony laughs, brushing Peter’s hair back. “We can wash it.”

“That’s blue frosting,” May says, raising her eyebrows. “You might get stains.”

“Oh well,” Tony says. “All for fun.”

Ben puts the cake down on Peter’s tray, and they all rush over to stand in front of him, looming in a ridiculous half-circle. Peter just shrieks, staring at the cake, and he blinks up at all of them, needing answers. 

“Pep!” he yells. “Dada!”

“Oh, Pep, he needs help,” Tony says, nudging Pepper forward with a hand on her lower back. 

She laughs, glancing over her shoulder at him, and she pushes up her sleeve. “Okay, Peter,” she says. “I don’t encourage this, in normal circumstances, but right now, it’s...it’s a free for all, okay? Just…” She takes his chunky little wrist, and pushes his hand directly into the cake, away from the toppers.

Peter gasps, and looks up at her in pure shock. Tony nearly collapses in laughter, turning and resting his forehead on Ben’s shoulder, and then Peter starts screaming again as Pepper leaves him to it. 

At first, Peter gently takes the toppers off, analyzing them and babbling about it before he puts them aside. But then, once they’re gone, he dips his other hand into the cake, pulling it back out and staring at it like it’s the strangest thing he’s ever seen.

“Is he ever gonna try to eat it?” Tony asks, snorting, and Peter looks up at him, makes eye contact. “Eat, babe! Eat it!”

“Eat!” Peter says, cocking his head. 

“Eat! Like you eat all the cheese.”

“Cheese.”

Tony laughs again, and he’s about to say something else when Peter takes small bites of the cake clinging to his hand. Then his eyes go wide, and he looks at them like something incredible has happened, and he smears both of his hands across his mouth.

“Oh my God,” May laughs. “Oh my God.”

“Well, look—”

Then Peter literally. Faceplants into the fucking cake. 

There’s a giant splat, crumbs and frosting rocketing off in all directions, and Tony nearly chokes, and all five of them converge on him but Tony gets there first, pulling Peter’s face out from its sugary destination. 

“Oh my God—”

“Well, okay, that’s, that’s understandable—”

“Little man could not help himself—”

“Munchkin, what in the world—”

“Monkey brain,” Tony laughs, meeting Peter’s eyes as he helps him sit back, completely fucking covered in cake now. “You gotta take it slow.”

“Dada,” Peter says, brightly, giggling, trying to lick all around his own mouth.

“Yeah,” Tony snorts. “You did that.”

~

May and Tony sit in the hallway outside the office, watching Peter play in the ball pit. Tony had set it up by filling the entire room up to Peter’s waist with plastic balls, cutting the door off with a baby gate so the balls didn’t go spilling out.

Peter is newly clean after his cake extravaganza, because May insisted on a quick bath immediately after. He keeps picking the balls up, one by one, and tossing them at the wall. He stumbles around, falls, picks himself right back up again. He laughs and laughs and Tony doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of watching him. No. He knows he won’t.

“I truly hope Richard didn’t mess up Peter’s birthday for you,” May says. 

“Nah,” Tony says. “Did make me think a little bit, though.”

“Honestly, don’t,” May says. “He’s—like I told you, from what she said, things weren’t going well, and it was one of the machismo things where he’s the man and he’s supposed to be making the most money and be the most respected etc etc. Which, I’m sure you know, I thought of you, initially.”

“Oh really?” Tony asks, raising his eyebrows at her. “Never could have imagined why you thought _that._ ”

May scoffs. “Well, you’ve shown me that you’re not. You’re not. You’re everything Mary said you were behind the scenes. Don’t know how she knew, but. I get it, I get why you do it, so you can keep your circle small, so you don’t have to let everybody in, so they’re not always on the up and up with what’s truly going on in your life.”

Tony chews on his lower lip and nods, watching as Peter bangs one of the balls against his knee.

“But you’re—listen, Richard was a good person but he let his vices overtake him most of the time and he wasn’t good enough for my sister, in the end. Maybe it took me a bit to see that because change isn’t my favorite. But either way, this baby—he wouldn’t have been able to handle a baby. Especially without her. But _this_ baby is not his, and he knows that, and he’s just being a prick.”

“Yeah, I know,” Tony says. “That baby is mine.”

“He’s yours,” May says. “He’s literally the spitting image of you and behaves like you too. And loves you to the moon and back. So don’t even worry about Richard. He’s not in this equation and he wishes he was but he’s not. And I’ll tear him a new one if he tries anything else.”

Tony snorts. “Thanks,” he says. He feels strangely emotional, weirdly nostalgic, and very appreciative. Maybe it’s because it’s Peter’s birthday. Or maybe it’s his sap nature coming out again. “I’m glad you’re—on my team. You and Ben.”

“I’m glad you let us be,” May says, and smiles at him warmly. 

“Dada!” Peter yells. “Dada, Petey! Dada, Petey!”

Tony grins, his chest going warm. “He’s been saying that when he wants me to come to him,” he says. “We’re almost at complete sentences, May.”

“We already got ‘love dada’, so I think we’ve gone over that hurdle,” May says. 

Tony stands and glances down at her as he steps over the baby gate, moving into the office ball pit. “Don’t mention that,” he says. “My heart can’t take it.”

She laughs at him. “Lemme go get the camera,” she says, scrambling to her feet and heading back down the hallway.

“C’mere, birthday boy,” Tony says. Peter is standing there, arms in the air, giggling and reaching for him. Tony picks him up, and lays down on the ground, shimmying until only a few of the plastic balls are wedged underneath him. Peter lays down on top of him, kicking his feet and laughing, looming above his face.

“Dada, dada, dada.”

“Love you, monkey,” Tony says, grinning up at him.

“Love dada. Love dada!”

“Oh my God,” Tony whispers, tugging Peter down and smothering him in kisses.


End file.
